Women still struggling to climb corporate ladder

Family issues, need for flexible schedule work against business women

It was the late 1980s when Silvia Hoffman realized her future was in architecture.

A high school teacher had noticed her drafting skills and encouraged her to pursue the field.

So when she was in 11th grade at Nazareth Area High School, Hoffman spoke with her adviser about her intention to study architecture at Lehigh University. A more impressionable student would have been discouraged by his advice.

"The first thing he said was that Lehigh was a tough school and that architecture is really tough," Hoffman said. "Then he says, 'I never heard of a woman architect. Did you think about going to Moravian and being a teacher instead?' "

Undeterred, Hoffman went on to earn a bachelor's degree in architecture from Lehigh and a master's degree in architecture from North Carolina State University.

More than two decades later, Hoffman, a founding partner in MKSD Architects in South Whitehall Township, is working in a field still dominated by men. But that isn't the only thing that makes her rare. She also is a top executive in her firm, a position only a small percentage of women achieve.

"In a lot of fields, there are still all-boys clubs," said Julia Ramsey, president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Organization for Women. "Women aren't invited into the circle and they can't create the relationships they need to climb the ladder to the next level."

While women make up 52 percent of the management, professional and related occupations in the United States, only about 4 percent of them rise to the ranks of CEO, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization with a mission to expand opportunities for women in business.

As the positions get higher, the percentages of women get lower: 14 percent of executive officers and 8 percent of top earners at companies are women.

In a recent Morning Call/Equilar executive pay survey of nine publicly traded companies in the Lehigh Valley, only two of 40 executives were women.

One of the biggest factors impeding women from excelling in business is that they shoulder much of the responsibility for family life.

"Women are asked to succeed on so many levels," said Michael London, a Muhlenberg College business professor whose courses address gender issues in management. "Be feminine, be strong, have a family — to succeed at all those levels you have to be superwoman. Who can do that?"

Ramsey sees this issue affecting female workers from the bottom up. For example, Ramsey said, 44 percent of the women working in Philadelphia, where the NOW chapter is based, do not have paid sick time. A mom who has to stay home with a sick child is forced to take off without pay and can be at risk of losing her job.

"Policies that affect women and their families rarely get brought to the table, Ramsey said. "We need to look for more family-friendly work policies in this country. We need to support women workers at every level."

Many women must choose between family or work because they are still the caretakers, Ramsey said. If they have a child, chances are they will choose the family.

Women with children may look for positions that allow them to balance work life and family life rather than positions that provide a straight shot to the top. In doing so, they can miss out on opportunities that men can take.

Ibolya Balog, chairwoman of Cedar Crest College's Department of Business, Management and Economics, said women often don't volunteer for the kinds of corporate positions that require travel or working odd hours. In the corporate world, those positions are stepping-stones to jobs at the top, she said.

Some women choose to reduce the number of hours they work or leave corporate life to care for their kids. When they return to their careers, it's rare when they can return to their previous levels.

One of Hoffman's associate partners at MKSD, Gabrielle Rizzi, took a few years off from working full time at her previous firm to stay home and care for her two daughters. With her husband's job requiring a lot of traveling, Rizzi opted to work as a part-time consultant.

She was lucky. Keeping her foot in her field while staying at home kept her connected to architecture and she was able to get back in full time when it was right for her family. She's been at MKSD since 2007.

"For many women who still see themselves pursuing a career which leads to advancement, this can derail the path and it is tough for them to get back on track," Hoffman said. "They can be left in the dust by men who have stayed the course. I think businesses are missing a huge opportunity to keep those talented and hard-working women engaged, which ultimately benefits both the women and the companies."

Flexible hours

Women aren't the only ones clamoring for flexible work hours, business leaders note. Flexible schedules can help men balance family lives and careers, too, they say.

Carmen Twillie Ambar, president of Cedar Crest College, said change will come when we stop looking at flexibility as a woman's issue.